View source for Gazelle (1854 sidewheeler)

{{Short description|American ship}}

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|Ship image=Gazelle (steamboat) explosion.jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship name=''Gazelle''
|Ship owner=
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|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= Willamette Falls Milling and Transport Co., [[Linn City, Oregon]]
|Ship original cost=
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|Ship built=1854
|Ship christened=
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|Ship maiden voyage=March 14, 1854
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship identification=
|Ship fate=Boiler exploded April 8, 1854 at [[Canemah, Oregon|Canemah]], upper works destroyed.
|Ship notes=Hull salvaged, upper works rebuilt, and renamed (briefly) ''Sarah Hoyt'' and later ''Señorita''.
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type=inland shallow draft passenger/freighter/towboat
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|Ship length={{convert|145|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|23|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}
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|Ship depth={{convert|5.0|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} depth of hold
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|Ship power=twin steam engines, high-pressure, one cylinder each, 14.5" bore by 48" stroke
|Ship propulsion=sidewheels
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|Ship notes= Engines later installed on sternwheeler [[Okanogan (sternwheeler)|Okanogan]], built in 1861.
}}
|}

'''''Gazelle''''' was an early [[sidewheeler]] on the [[Willamette River]] in what is now the [[U.S. state]] of [[Oregon]].  She did not operate long, suffering a catastrophic boiler explosion on April 8, 1854, less than a month after her trial voyage. This was the worst such explosion ever to occur in the Pacific Northwest states. The wrecked ''Gazelle'' was rebuilt and operated for a few years, first briefly as the unpowered barge '''''Sarah Hoyt''''' and then, with boilers installed, as the steamer '''''Señorita'''''. A victim of the explosion was D.P. Fuller, age 28, who is buried in Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.

==Design and construction==
''Gazelle'' was built by the Willamette Falls Milling and Transportation Company at the now vanished town of [[Linn City, Oregon|Linn City]], which was located on the west side of the Willamette River across from [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]].<ref name=Affleck>{{cite book | author1-last = Affleck | author1-first = Edward L. | title = A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska | isbn =0-920034-08-X | location = Vancouver, BC | publisher =  Alexander Nicholls Press | date = 2000 | at = p.14}}</ref>  The Willamette Falls Company was supported financially by the California banking firm of [[Page, Bacon & Co.]]<ref name=Lewis51 />

''Gazelle'' was {{convert|145|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}<ref name=Affleck /> with a beam of  {{convert|23|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} and depth of hold of {{convert|5.0|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Affleck /><ref name=Informed>{{cite news
| title = We are informed that the Willamette Falls Company's new steamer "Gazelle" …
| url = http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn84022662/1854-03-10/ed-1/seq-2/
| newspaper = [[Oregon Spectator]]
| location = [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City, O.T.]]
| volume = 7
| number = 4
| publisher = Goodrich, C.L.
| date = Mar 10, 1854
|page=2 col. 2
}}</ref>

''Gazelle'' was driven by two high-pressure steam engines, each one turning one of her sidewheels.<ref name=Affleck />  Each engine had a single cylinder with a bore diameter of 14.5 inches and a piston stroke of 48 inches.<ref name=Affleck />  ''Gazelle'''s builders were doing business as the Willamette Falls Canal, Milling and Transportation Company, referred to at the time as the "Willamette Falls Company."<ref name=Informed />

The choice of a side-wheel design, adopted by all the early steamers on the Columbia and Willamette rivers, was an error, as the sternwheel design was much better suited to the conditions.<ref name=Explosion1884 />

==Reaching the upper river==
Built below [[Willamette Falls]], ''Gazelle'' was intended to run on the Willamette
River above the falls, to serve the growing population in the [[Willamette Valley]].  To reach the upper river, ''Gazelle'' was lifted above the falls and launched on the upper Willamette at [[Canemah, Oregon|Canemah]].<ref name=Corning />

==Operations==
''Gazelle'' made its trial run above the falls on March 18, 1854.<ref name=Corning>{{cite book| author1-last = Corning| author1-first = Howard McKinley| title = Willamette Landings — Ghost Towns of the River| isbn = 0875950426| location = Portland, Oregon| publisher =  [[Oregon Historical Society]]| date = 1973| edition = 2nd| at = pgs. 41, 64-65 }}</ref>  The steamer was scheduled to run to [[Salem, Oregon|Salem]] and [[Corvallis, Oregon]].<ref name=Informed />  The first commander of Gazelle was Robert Hereford, a Californian.<ref name=Informed /><ref name=Explosion1884>{{cite news
| title = Explosion of the Steamer Gazelle
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-1235E94EC6CA3478@2409257-123051DF2BF6CE78@1&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = [[Morning Oregonian]]
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 24
| number = 7,447
| editor = H.W. Scott
| editor-link = Harvey W. Scott
| publisher =[[Henry Pittock|H.L. Pittock]]
| date = March 21, 1884
|page=2 col. 3
}}</ref>

As of March 17, 1854, ''Gazelle'' was engaged in regular service running upriver from Oregon City.<ref name=Regular>{{cite news
| title = Willamette Falls M.&T. Co's Through Line of Steamers from Portland to Corvallis&nbsp;... The Company's new and splendid steamer Gazelle&nbsp;...
| url = http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn84022662/1854-03-31/ed-1/seq-3/
| newspaper = [[Oregon Spectator]]
| location = [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City, O.T.]]
| type = advertisement
| volume = 7
| number = 7
| publisher = Goodrich, C.L.
| date = Mar 31, 1854
|page=3 col. 6
}}</ref>  ''Gazelle'' departed at 7:00&nbsp;a.m. on Tuesdays and Friday of each week, bound for upriver points, including [[Butteville, Oregon|Butteville]], [[Champoeg, Oregon|Champoeg]], Crawford's Landing, Weston, Fairfield, [[Salem, Oregon|Salem]], [[Eola, Oregon|Cincinnati]], [[Independence, Oregon|Independence]], Washington, [[Albany, Oregon|Albany]], and [[Corvallis, Oregon]].<ref name=Regular />  ''Gazelle'' operated with another steamer owned by the same company, the [[Belle of Oregon City|''Belle'']], Capt. William B. Wells commanding, to carry passengers and freight from Portland to Oregon City, below [[Willamette Falls]].<ref name=Regular />

The company's freight schedule charged $2 per ton for freight on ''Belle'' to [[Milwaukie, Oregon|Milwaukie]], and $3 per ton for cargo to Oregon City.<ref name=Regular />  For points above Oregon City, freight rates rose sharply, reflecting the cost of transshipment around Willamette Falls, starting with $10 per ton for freight to Butteville and Champoeg, ranging up to $20 per ton for shipments to Corvallis.<ref name=Regular />

The company built a warehouse on the west side of Willamette Falls, at [[Linn City, Oregon|Linn City]] opposite from Oregon City, for the purpose of transshipping freight around the falls.<ref name=Explosion1884 /><ref name=Early>{{cite news
| title = Early Willamette Steamboat Line Pursued by Worst of Evil Fortune
| author-last = Wright
| author-first = Edgar W.
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12A0BE8C95C33BD2@2425898-129581666CFEC263@21-12A12A22A46F7F3F@&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = The Sunday Oregonian
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 48
| number = 41
| date = Oct 13, 1929
|page=22 col. 2
}}</ref>  The company intended to control transportation in the [[Willamette Valley]].<ref name=Explosion1884 />

Passenger rates from Portland to Oregon City on ''Gazelle'' were $2 each way; additional fares were charged for upriver travel, starting with $1 for passengers bound for Butteville and Champoeg, going up to $5 for passengers going to Corvallis.<ref name=Regular />

Part of the route served by ''Gazelle'' was also served by the company's steamer ''Oregon'', which as of March 17, 1854, ran from the company's warehouse in Oregon City at 7:00&nbsp;a.m. every Monday and Thursday for Salem, calling en route at two points on the [[Yamhill River]], [[Dayton, Oregon|Dayton]] and [[Lafayette, Oregon]]<ref name=Regular />

The Oregon City newspaper was enthusiastic about the new steamer:
{{blockquote | style=font-size:100%; |The fine weather and good music tended not a little to enhance the pleasure of the ladies and gentlemen on board, and all were highly entertained and pleased.  Her tables are laden with Oregon's choicest productions, together with a select variety of imported fruits, etc.  Who wishes for better accommodations, even in this tyee<ref>[[Chinook jargon]] for "excellent", "the best.</ref> day of Oregon refinement?<ref name=Mills>{{cite book
| author1-last = Mills
| author1-first = Randall V.
| author-link1 = Randall V. Mills
| title = Sternwheelers up Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country
| isbn = 0-8032-5874-7
| lccn = 77007161
| location =  Lincoln, Nebraska
| publisher = University of Nebraska
| date = 1947
| chapter = As the Sparks Fly Upward
| pages= 115–117
| no-pp = yes
}}</ref>}}
During one trip, ''Gazelle'' stood by to assist as the sidewheeler [[Oregon (sidewheeler 1852)|''Oregon'']], owned by the same company, was sinking after hitting a snag just below Salem. Cargo from the ''Oregon'' was loaded onto ''Gazelle'' to lighten ''Oregon'' to better allow her salvaging.  Suddenly ''Oregon'' broke free of the snag, drifted downstream, ran up on a sandbar and sank so deeply that only a part of her upperworks were visible above the water.  ''Oregon'', also a new steamer, was a total loss.  On the way back down, ''Gazelle'' ran over a log and broke some paddle buckets, which, however, was not serious damage, and was actually one of the strengths of the paddlewheel design over the propeller on inland waters.<ref name=Corning />

==Destruction==
[[File:Wallamet (sidewheeler) ca 1855.jpg|thumb|The steamer ''Wallamet'', moored nearby when ''Gazelle'' exploded on April 8, 1854.]]
On April 8, 1854, at 6:30&nbsp;a.m., ''Gazelle'' had come over to Canemah from the long wharf built above the falls on the western side of the river above Linn City, sometimes called the "basin".<ref name=Explosion1884 /><ref name=Corning /><ref name=Awful>{{cite news
| title = Awful Explosion of Steamer Gazelle: Twenty-Eight Lives Lost !!!: Thirty Others Wounded !!
| url = http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn84022662/1854-04-14/ed-1/seq-1/
| newspaper = [[Oregon Spectator]]
| location = Oregon City, O.T.
| volume = 7
| number = 9
| publisher = Goodrich, C.L.
| date = Apr 14, 1854
|page=1 col. 1
}}</ref>

This was to be the steamer's first regular run after the trip up river where she had attempted to assist the ''Oregon''.<ref name=Mills /> That morning, bound for [[Corvallis, Oregon|Corvallis]]. ''Gazelle'' had been at the [[Canemah, Oregon|Canemah]] dock for about ten minutes. To make a speedy departure, the engineer had tied down the safety valve to build up steam.<ref name=Mills />

According to contemporaneous reports, the chief engineer, Tonie (or Toner<ref name=Lewis51 />), had run ''Gazelle'' across the river, and stopped briefly alongside the steamer [[Wallamet (sidewheeler 1853)|''Wallamet'']] to take on freight.<ref name=Gazelle1875>{{cite news
| title = Explosion of the steamer "Gazelle"
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12329DCC3888CB28@2406021-12305500762079D0@2-12D4861D6CF7A860@Explosion+Of+The+Steamer+%22Gazelle.%22&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = [[Morning Oregonian]]
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 15
| number = 83
| date = May 12, 1875
| type = republishing excerpts from 1854 reports
|page=3 col. 2
}}</ref> ''Wallamet'' was then under command of Capt. [[Charles H. Bennett (soldier)|Charles H. Bennett]] (1811–1855), whose crew was just then preparing for breakfast.<ref name=Explosion1884 />

On board ''Gazelle'', the steam was "howling from escape pipe with a deafening roar."<ref name=Explosion1884 /> The chief engineer then moved ''Gazelle'' further on to the Willamette Company's wharf-boat, where he stopped the steamer, and then himself disembarked on to the wharf-boat.<ref name=Gazelle1875 /> According to one source, the chief engineer took off running.<ref name=Mills /> The wharf-boat was either "a few [[rod (unit)|rods]]"<ref name=Gazelle1875 /> or 100 yards<ref name=Explosion1884 /> upriver from where the ''Willamet'' lay.

About one minute later, at about 6:40&nbsp;a.m. both boilers exploded on ''Gazelle''.<ref name=Mills /><ref name=Gazelle1875 /> Captain Bennett on board ''Wallamet'' exclaimed: "My God, the Gazelle has blown up — man your small boats."<ref name=Explosion1884 /> This order was just in time, as already people blown off ''Gazelle'' were starting to float downriver towards the falls.<ref name=Explosion1884 /> About 60 people had been on board ''Gazelle''.<ref name=Lewis51 /><ref name=Early /><ref name=Mills /> At least twenty people<ref name=Gazelle1875 /><ref>Mills gives the casualties as twenty-eight killed.</ref> were instantly killed, and almost everyone else was injured, including four people who died later.<ref name=Mills />

Pieces of bodies were blown in all directions, including into the river and on to the shore, but most of the persons killed were found on the forward deck.<ref name=Awful /> David D. Page, chief superintendent of the company, was killed; his head "dashed to pieces", he could only be identified by his clothing.<ref name=Awful /> All the machinery, partitions and furniture had been blown off the main deck.<ref name=Gazelle1875 /> The upper deck had been blown completely away as far as the wheelhouse, and the captain's cabin and clerk's office had been lifted off the deck and moved two feet forward.<ref name=Gazelle1875 /> Most of the boilers were completely missing, and part of one, along with the smoke stack, was said to have been seen flying nearly across the river.<ref name=Gazelle1875 />

===Persons killed===
Notable people who died were Samuel Townsend Burch, also known as Judge Birch, of [[Polk County, Oregon|Polk County]]<ref name=Corning /> or Luckiamute<ref name=Early /> member of the 1849 Oregon Territorial Legislature, and James White, operator of [[Historic ferries in Oregon#Salem ferry|the ferry in Salem]].<ref name=Gazelle1875 />

James White was the father of [[Leonard White (steamboat captain)|Leonard White]], who became one of the great pioneering steamboat men of the Pacific Northwest.<ref>{{cite news
| title = News of 60 Years Ago — As it Looks from Here
| author-last = MacFarlane
| author-first = Duncan
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12B384E29F1BBF4A@2432947-12AF000C9D84184F@59&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = The Sunday Oregonian
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 68
| number = 5
| date = Jan 30, 1949
| page = Magazine section, p.4, col.1
| no-pp = yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
| title = Capt. Leonard White: Pathfinder of Oregon
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12D2D797386320AE@2437448-12D2D209F6FBAE34@30-12D2DE55A1560308@&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = The Sunday Oregonian
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 80
| number = 26
| date = May 28, 1961
|page=31 col. 5
}}</ref>

The pilot of ''Wallamet'', James M. Fudge, had stepped on board ''Gazelle'' when ''Gazelle'' had come alongside, and had been blown into the river with his lower spine severed by a flying piece of debris.<ref name=Explosion1884 /> He died within a few minutes.<ref name=Explosion1884 />

Others killed included John Clemmens (or Clemens),<ref name=Lewis51>{{cite book | editor1-last = Wright | editor1-first = E.W. | title = Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest | year = 1895 | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_seRDAAAAYAAJ | lccn = 28001147 | location = Portland, Oregon | publisher = Lewis and Dryden Printing Co. | publication-date = 1895 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_seRDAAAAYAAJ/page/n61 37], n12, 46, 51–52, 56, 60, 65, 76, 91 }}</ref> the pilot, several other crew, and numerous passengers.<ref name=Awful /> Captain Hereford was scalded, but survived.<ref name=Awful />

===Rescue and recovery===
[[File:Dobbis, Crawford grave at Lone Fir Cemetery.JPG|thumb|Grave monument for Crawford Dobbins, victim of the 1854 explosion of Gazelle, in [[Lone Fir Cemetery]], in Portland, Oregon.]]
The whole town of Canemah came running to the rescue, and boats had to be launched to rescue the living people and recover the bodies floating in the river. The first man at the scene, according to his own report many years later, was Joseph Buchtel (1830–1916), who was then the steward on ''Wallamet''.<ref name=Lewis51 /><ref name=Buchtel /> Buchtel said that people were struggling in the water while people on shore were standing around not knowing what to do.<ref name=Buchtel>{{cite news
| title = Joe Buchtel, Worthy Pioneer, Goes Blind
| url = http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1912-07-21/ed-1/seq-51/
| newspaper = The Sunday Oregonian
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 31
| number = 29
| date = Jul 21, 1912
| page = Section Five, p.1, col.6
| no-pp = yes}}</ref> Buchtel organized the people and they rescued four or five persons in the water who were in danger of going over the falls.<ref name=Buchtel />

When word of the explosion reached Portland, the steamer [[Multnomah (sidewheeler 1851)|''Multnomah'']] was dispatched at once with several surgeons on board to assist the wounded in Oregon City.<ref>{{cite news
| title = From Oregon: Two Weeks Later: Explosion of the Steamer Gazelle: Twenty Killed and Twenty-Five Wounded
| url = http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18540416.2.7&srpos=2&e=01-01-1854-----en--50--1-byDA-img-txIN-%22steamer+Gazelle%22------#
| newspaper = [[The Daily Alta California|Daily Alta California]]
| location = [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]
| volume = 5
| number = 105
| publisher = E. Gilbert & Co.
| date = Apr 16, 1854
| type = sourcing in part from ''Oregon Weekly Times''
|page=2 col. 3
}}</ref>

Local citizens in Canemah opened up their businesses and spare rooms to help the wounded and store the bodies of the dead until they could be recognized and claimed.<ref name=Awful /> The day after the explosion, the steamer ''Wallamet'' proceeded upriver under Captain [[George Anson Pease|George A. Pease]] (b.1830 or 1831), as pilot, stopping at every landing to leave off the wounded and the dead.<ref name=Explosion1884 />

The conduct of Rev. J.L. Parrish, of Salem, and Capt. Bennett of the steamer ''Wallamet'', was particularly praised thirty years later by a crewman who had been on ''Wallamet'' at the time of the explosion.<ref name=Explosion1884 />

A number of the victims, including David P. Fuller and Crawford M. Dobbins, were buried in the [[Lone Fir Cemetery]] by its founder, Colburn Barrell in his own family plot.<ref name=LoneFir>{{cite news
| title = Lone Fir Cemetery Rich in Historic Interest
| url = http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1911-04-23/ed-1/seq-44/
| newspaper = The Sunday Oregonian
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 30
| number = 17
| date = Apr 23, 1911
| page = Section Five, p.2, col.1
| no-pp = yes}}</ref> Fuller and Dobbins were friends of Barrell.<ref name=Friends>{{cite news
| title = Lone Fir Cemetery — Necropolis of Pioneers
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12A01147D968CD11@2425009-1294E2C5E48F1795@91&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = The Sunday Oregonian
| author-last = Olsen
| author-first = Charles Oluf
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = XLVI
| number = 19
| date = May 8, 1927
| page = magazine section, p.2, col.1
| no-pp = yes}}</ref> Fuller was killed instantly, while Dobbins lived to April 28, 1854.<ref name=Friends /> Barrell named the cemetery "Mount Crawford" after his friend.<ref name=Friends /> Later the name was changed to [[Lone Fir Cemetery]]. Barrell also paid for a monument for Dobbins, which bears the image of a lone fir.<ref name=LoneFir />

===Cause of the explosion===
[[Jacob Kamm]], an experienced steamboat man, examined the wreckage, and stated that the explosion was caused by a poor grade of iron used in the boiler and a defective pump.<ref name=Lewis51 /><ref name=Early /> However, little could be known with certainty, with the second engineer having been killed and the chief, Toner, absent.<ref name=Lewis51 /> Toner was later heard of in the [[Puget Sound]] area, but he never returned to Oregon to give a statement as to the cause.<ref name=Lewis51 />

A coroner's jury was formed, over which Dr. Forbes Barclay officiated as coroner.<ref name=Gazelle1875 /> The coroner's jury blamed the engineer's "gross and culpable" negligence in keeping too much steam, and allowing the water level in the boilers to get too low.<ref name=Mills />

==Salvage and reconstruction==
The hull sank.<ref name=Mills />  Later it was sold to Alexander Sinclair Murray (b.1827), William B. Wells (d.1863), Richard Hoyt, and one or two other people.<ref name=Lewis51 /><ref name=Early />   The new owners intended to place the vessel into the [[Astoria, Oregon|Astoria]] and [[Cowlitz River|Cowlitz river]] trade.<ref name=Lewis51 />

On June 23, 1855, it was reported that a contractor named Barnum, of Linn City, had agreed, for $1,350, to take Gazelle from the boat's moorings at Canemah, safely across the falls to the lower river.<ref>{{cite news
| title = The steamer Gazelle
| url = http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025129/1855-06-23/ed-1/seq-2/
| newspaper = The Oregon Argus
| location = Oregon City, Oregon
| volume = 1
| number = 10
| publisher = Adams, W.L.
| date = Jun 23, 1855
|page=2 col. 6
}}</ref>

The hull, engines, and cabin remnants were brought around Willamette Falls on August 11, 1855 by means of a runway of timbers on which rollers were placed, with a launch way or slide on the lower side of the falls.<ref name=Hoyt>{{cite news
| title = Answers to Yesterday's Questions
| author-last = Smith
| author-first = Frank J.
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12A07CA6A145BAC2@2425370-1294E2CF1EC13784@9&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = [[Morning Oregonian]]
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 57
| number = 21,053
| date = May 3, 1928
|page=10 col. 4
}}</ref>

==Operations as ''Señorita''==
When rebuilt, the vessel was renamed ''Sarah Hoyt''.  It had no boiler, and was used as [[barge]] for a time, being towed behind other riverboats.<ref name=Hoyt />  Later, in the fall of 1856, a new boiler was installed, the boat was renamed ''Señorita'' and placed on the route from Portland to the [[Cascades Rapids|Cascades rapids]].<ref name=Lewis51 /><ref name=Hoyt />  The boat was used to carry troops, horses, and army stores from Portland to army posts at [[Vancouver Barracks|Fort Vancouver]] and the Cascades.<ref name=Bancroft340>
{{cite book
| author-last = Bancroft
| author-first = Hubert H.
| author-link = Hubert Howe Bancroft
| title = History of Oregon
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gwZFAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA340
| volume = II
| location = [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco, CA]]
| publisher =  The History Company
| date = 1888
| at = p.340, n.49
}}</ref>  Julius Sorenson (1836–1909) was one of the captains of ''Señorita''  in this time.<ref>{{cite news
| title = Captain J. Sorenson Dies: Pioneer Steamboat Man Succumbs to Paralysis
| url = http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1909-08-18/ed-1/seq-8/
| newspaper = Morning Oregonian
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 41
| number = 15,202
| date = August 18, 1909
|page=8 col. 6
}}</ref>

The engines salvaged from ''Gazelle'' turned out to be too small for the ''Señorita''{{'}}s work on the Cascades run, so they were removed and placed in a new steamer, the [[Hassalo (steamboat 1857)|''Hassalo'']] (also spelled Hassaloe),<ref name=Bancroft340 /> completed in 1857 just above the Cascades of the Columbia.<ref name=Lewis51 />  After the engines were replaced, ''Señorita'' was commanded by L. Hoyt, brother of Richard Hoyt.<ref name=Bancroft340 />

''Señorita'' was used in a rate war by the new owners, the Bradford brothers, who controlled the portage railroad around the [[Cascades Rapids|Cascades rapids]], on the north side of the river, and were competing with another portage on the south side of the river.<ref name=Lewis51 /><ref>{{cite news
| title = Marine Historian Recalls Old Days: Water Transportation Big Factor in Development
| author-last = Wright
| author-first = Edgar W.
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12A0670F64E9C36D@2425646-1294E2E13506F94A@21-12A085664EB20F3D@&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = The Sunday Oregonian
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = XLVIII
| number = 5
| date = February 3, 1929
| page = Section Two, p.1, col.2, & p.2
| no-pp = yes}}</ref>

With the more powerful engines installed, in 1857 ''Señorita'' was used occasionally on the Cascades route, with Captain Wells in command, and, in place of [[Multnomah (sidewheeler 1851)|''Multnomah'']], on the run from Portland to [[Astoria, Oregon]].<ref name=Lewis51 />  Most of the time ''Señorita'' was used as a tow boat.  In October 1858, ''Señorita'' under Captain Hoyt, became the first steamer on the Columbia to tow more than one vessel at once, taking the bark [[Ork (ship)|''Ork'']], the [[brig]] [[Francisco (ship)|''Francisco'']] and the [[schooner]] [[Rosaltha (ship)|''Rosaltha'']] upriver from Astoria to Portland.<ref name=Lewis51 />

In 1859, ''Señorita'' became one of the first vessels of the [[Oregon Steam Navigation Company]].<ref name=Hoyt />  Señorita was chartered by Jacob Kamm, [[John Comminger Ainsworth|J.S. Ainsworth]] and their associates, which combined with their control of several other steamers, gave them a near monopoly over river travel on the Columbia and Willamette rivers.<ref name=Lewis51 />

''Señorita''  was inspected by the U.S. Steamboat Inspectors on July 5, 1859, meaning the vessel was still in service at that time.<ref name=Inspect1860>{{cite book
| author1-last = United States
| author1-first = Department of the Treasury
| author2-last = Steamboat Inspection Service
| author2-first = Board of Supervising Inspectors
| title = Annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the state of the finances for the year ending June 30, 1860
| chapter = Statement No. 12. Report of supervising inspectors of steamboats
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wl1UAAAAcAAJ
| location = Washington DC
| publisher =  Thomas H. Ford
| date = 1860
|pages=345
}}</ref>  The inspector, O.A. Pitfield, praised the construction and speed of the ''Señorita''  and the other vessels of the Columbia and Willamette rivers which he had inspected on July 5, 1860.<ref name=Inspect1860 />

==Dismantled==
''Señorita'' was "pretty badly shaken up" during one run to the Cascades in 1858, when the hurricane deck was blown off, and other damage was sustained.<ref name=Lewis51 /><ref name=Mills />  According to one source, it was for this reason, and high operation costs, that ''Señorita'' was soon thereafter withdrawn from service and sent to the scrapyard.<ref name=Lewis51 />

Dismantling of the ''Señorita'', reported to have occurred in 1859, must have occurred after the date of the inspection.<ref name=Mills201>{{cite book | author1-last = Mills | author1-first = Randall V. | author-link1 = Randall V. Mills | title = Sternwheelers up Columbia -- A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country | chapter = Appendix A: Steamers of the Columbia River System | isbn = 0-8032-5874-7 | lccn = 77007161 | location =  Lincoln NE | publisher = University of Nebraska | date = 1947 |pages=199, 201 }}</ref>   The engines from ''Señorita'' were installed in a new steamer, the [[Okanogan (sternwheeler 1861)|''Okanogan'']], a sternwheeler built in 1861 at the confluence of the [[Deschutes River (Oregon)|Deschutes]] and Columbia rivers, upstream from [[Celilo Falls]].<ref name=Mills /><ref name=Mills201 />

==Historic memory==
{{quote box
| qalign = center
| width=20em
| bgcolor=#c6dbf7
| title = Memorial to steamer ''Gazelle''
| tstyle = text-align: center;
| quote = 600 yards south of this point<br />Explosion of Steamer Gazelle<br />April 8, 1854.<br />Loss of twenty-four lives.<br />Marked May 13th, 1933 by Multnomah Chapter D.A.R.<ref name=Timmen>{{cite book | author1-last = Timmen | author1-first = Fritz
| title = Blow for the Landing -- A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West | isbn = 0-87004-221-1 | lccn = 73150815 | location =  Caldwell, ID | publisher =  [[Caxton Press (United States)|Caxton Printers]] | date = 1973 |pages=69 }}</ref>
}}
On July 3, 1929, Ella Millar Grover (c.1848–1929), died in [[Vevey, Switzerland]].<ref name=Edna>{{cite news
| title = Mrs. Ella Millar Grover
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12A10822C07A8D4B@2425803-12958143902F76B0@11-12A169A9D7F35F55@&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = [[Morning Oregonian]]
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 58
| number = 21,424
| type = obituary
| date = Jul 10, 1929
|page=12 col. 2
}}</ref>  She had been the widow of civil war soldier, then Lieutenant [[Cuvier Grover]], who had rescued Ella Millar as a six-year-old child from the wreck of the ''Gazelle'', and married her 21 years later in 1875.<ref>{{cite news
| title = The Portland Evening Journal, in alluding to steamboat explosions on the Willamette river&nbsp;...
| url = http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn84022644/1875-05-28/ed-1/seq-2/
| newspaper = States Rights Democrat
| location = [[Albany, Oregon]]
| volume = 10
| number = 42
| publisher = Brown, M.V. & Stewart, C.H.
| date = May 28, 1875
|page=2 col. 6
}}</ref>  Ella Millar Grover was believed to have been the last living survivor of the explosion when she died.<ref name=Edna />  Her father, Rev. James P. Millar, had been killed in the explosion.<ref name=Edna />

In May 1933, the Multnomah chapter of the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] placed a bronze memorial plaque on a rock outcropping overlooking the Willamette River and the long-abandoned Canemah landing.<ref name=Timmen /><ref name=Marker>{{cite news
| title = Marker to Be Put Up: Steamer Explosion to be Commemorated: Blast in 1854 Killing 24 Persons Worst Catastrophe in United States at that Time
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12A2C139F2B74D9F@2427203-1299E0E5B32322BD@2-12A300316634244B@&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = [[Morning Oregonian]]
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 72
| number = 22,623
| date = May 10, 1933
|page=3 col. 2
}}</ref>

The marker was scheduled to be unveiled on May 13, 1933, by Joseph W. Bodd, a great-great-grandson of Rev. Mr. Millar.<ref name=Marker />  An address was scheduled to be given by Judge [[Fred W. Wilson]], of [[The Dalles, Oregon]], whose grandfather, Rev. James P. Millar, had been killed in the ''Gazelle'' explosion.<ref name=Marker /><ref name=1927interview>{{cite web
 | url = http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/wasco/bios/wilson420gbs.txt
 | title = Wasco County OR Archives Biographies: Wilson, Judge Fred W. September 10, 1872
 | last = Wakley
 | first = Ila
 | date = Jul 11, 1927
 | publisher = Oregon Journal
 | access-date = Jul 28, 2017
 }}</ref>   The marker is at {{coord|45.350350|N|122.616183|W| type:event|display=inline|format=dms}}.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMKQ8X_Steamer_Gazelle_Explosion_Canemah_OR
| title = Steamer Gazelle Explosion — Canemah, OR
| website = waymarking.com
| access-date = May 25, 2015
}}</ref>

In August 1939, a dramatization of the explosion, by John Hawkins, of [[Gladstone, Oregon]], was broadcast on Portland radio station [[KGW (radio)|KGW]].<ref>{{cite news
| title = KGW to Broadcast Pioneer Days Drama
| url = http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_dat=image/v2:11A73E5827618330@EANX-NB-12A7A278AA7548F9@2429484-12A072E8A4E4F259@3&rft_id=info:sid/infoweb.newsbank.com&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
| newspaper = The Oregonian
| location = Portland, Oregon
| volume = 78
| number =24,577
| date = Aug 8, 1939
|page=4 col. 6
}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Lone Fir Cemetery]]
* [[Oregon Steam Navigation Company]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==

===Books===
* {{cite book | author1-last=Affleck | author1-first=Edward L. | title=A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon, and Alaska | isbn =0-920034-08-X | location=Vancouver, British Columbia | publisher= Alexander Nicholls Press | date=2000 }}
* {{cite book| author1-last=Corning| author1-first=Howard McKinley| title=Willamette Landings&nbsp;— Ghost Towns of the River| isbn=0875950426| location=Portland, Oregon| publisher= [[Oregon Historical Society]]| date=1973| edition=2nd}}
* {{cite book | author1-last=Marshall | author1-first=Don | title=Oregon Shipwrecks | isbn= 0-8323-0430-1
| lccn=84071477 | location=Portland, Oregon | publisher=[[Binford & Mort|Binford and Mort Publishing]] | date=1984 }}
* {{cite book | author1-last=Mills | author1-first=Randall V. | author-link1=Randall V. Mills | title=Sternwheelers up Columbia&nbsp;— A Century of Steamboating in the Oregon Country | isbn=0-8032-5874-7 | lccn=77007161 | location= Lincoln NE | publisher=University of Nebraska | date=1947 }}
* {{cite book | author1-last=Timmen | author1-first=Fritz
| title=Blow for the Landing&nbsp;— A Hundred Years of Steam Navigation on the Waters of the West | isbn=0-87004-221-1 | lccn=73150815 | location= Caldwell, ID | publisher= [[Caxton Press (United States)|Caxton Printers]] | date=1973 }}
* {{cite book | editor1-last=Wright | editor1-first=Edgar W. | title=Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest | year=1895 | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_seRDAAAAYAAJ | lccn=28001147 | location=Portland, Oregon | publisher=Lewis and Dryden Printing Co. | publication-date=1895 }}

===On line historic newspaper collections===
* {{cite web
| url = http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu
| title = Historic Oregon Newspapers
| publisher = [[University of Oregon]]
}}
* {{cite web
| url = http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc
| title = California Digital Newspaper Collection
| publisher = [[University of California, Riverside]]
}}
* {{cite web
| url  = http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
| title = Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
| publisher = [[Library of Congress]]
}}

<!--{{Coord|45|21.021|N|122|36.971|W|display=title}} These are the coordinates for the historic marker in Oregon City.-->

{{Willamette River Steamboats}}
{{Oregon Steam Navigation Company}}
{{Oregon Pioneer History}}
{{1854 shipwrecks}}

[[Category:Steamboats of Oregon]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1854]]
[[Category:Steamboats of the Willamette River]]
[[Category:Oregon Steam Navigation Company]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Columbia River system]]
[[Category:Clackamas County, Oregon]]
[[Category:Maritime boiler explosions]]